Elephant & Castle Pub, Downtown

Around the 14th century, Charles I was betrothed to a Spanish princess from Castille. She was known as Infanta de Castille. Then, as now, the royal family's activities were subject to gossip in all the pubs and inns across the land. In addition, the Cockneys of London, who had no bilingual training, had problems with the Spanish language. It was not long before Infanta de Castille had become mockingly known to commoners of the day as Elephant & Castle. At the height of this calamity, an enterprising innkeeper decided to name his establishment after the young woman, thus creating the first Elephant & Castle Pub. The original Elephant & Castle Pub still operates in London today.